Draw the point
★ Infection with Helicobacter pylori only increases the risk of stomach cancer, not that stomach cancer is certain.
★ Helicobacter pylori can be treated or prevented, and can be treated rationally.
★ The treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection requires a doctor to diagnose and use medicine, toothpaste, garlic are useless.
Today, there is a message about stomach cancer that rushed to the Weibo hot search. Originally, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the 15th edition of the Carcinogen Report, in which chronic infection of Helicobacter pylori was listed as a definitive carcinogen. In fact, this matter itself is not new, because the close connection between Helicobacter pylori and stomach cancer is no secret.
From Weibo
For example, as early as 1994, the World Health Organization listed Helicobacter pylori as the first type of carcinogen of gastric cancer, and then the "Kyoto Consensus" for Helicobacter pylori gastritis has also taken the eradication of Helicobacter pylori as a first-level preventive measure for gastric cancer.
However, considering that at least more than 50% of China's population is infected with Helicobacter pylori, and China itself is a country with a high incidence of stomach cancer, it is necessary for us to understand the harm and prevention of Helicobacter pylori, and then we will talk about this topic.
01
Helicobacter pylori is not simple
Helicobacter pylori, in the shape of a curved stick, is shaped a bit like a rice strip, and has several flagellar hairs at one end that can be used to move and immobilize itself. The appearance of Helicobacter pylori in the bacterial world can only be said to be ordinary and not surprising, but it has a unique skill, that is, it can survive in the stomach.
Figureworm creative
To know that for bacteria, the stomach can be said to be hellish difficulty, stomach acid pH can be as low as 1-2, and a variety of enzymes, for the vast majority of bacteria, just passing through the stomach is nine deaths. Only Helicobacter pylori can use the flagella to pass through the mucus layer of the antrum to fix itself and settle in the mucus layer. They also come with their own urease, which can break down urea to produce ammonia to neutralize stomach acid and create a more comfortable living environment for themselves.
Helicobacter pylori is comfortable, and we are out of luck.
On the one hand, when these guys settle illegally, they will make holes in the barrier of our stomach mucosa, so that the stomach acid that should be isolated will leak in and corrode the stomach wall. On the other hand, Helicobacter pylori causes an immune response, and the ammonia and toxins it produces can also directly damage the stomach wall, which can cause inflammation and cause other problems.
Most infected people have no symptoms in the early stages, and some only show symptoms such as mild stomach discomfort and decreased appetite. A small number of patients' stomach under the invasion of Helicobacter pylori, gastric mucosa due to inflammation continues to damage repair, from chronic superficial gastritis slowly developed into chronic atrophic gastritis intestinal metaplasia of the epithelial atypical hyperplasia, these are precancerous lesions, which means that the risk of gastric cancer is increased. There are also some patients whose typical symptoms are epigastric pain that develops into peptic ulcers.
02
How exactly do you deal with Helicobacter pylori?
Seeing this, there may be friends to worry about - what? One in every two Chinese is infected with this bacteria? Will I get cancer if I get it? So what's the point? How do I get rid of them?
First of all, Helicobacter pylori is by no means incurable, in fact, many antibiotics can kill this bacteria, but they need to cooperate with each other, and they have to take other drugs to control stomach acid and make antibiotics effective. As long as the treatment is successful, it can still be eradicated. According to the "Expert Consensus Opinion on the Eradication of Helicobacter pylori and the Prevention and Control of Gastric Cancer in China (2019, Shanghai)", the incidence of gastric cancer can be reduced by 53% after eradication of Helicobacter pylori.
It should be noted that there are many types of drugs for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori, and it is necessary to decide whether it is necessary to eradicate and how to use the drug according to the specific situation of the patient, the contraindications to taking the drug, the strain of infection and other factors, which requires the doctor to make professional judgments, and will not be repeated. However, here we should remind everyone in particular that if the doctor judges that eradication treatment is needed, it should be necessary to follow the doctor's instructions to take the drug on time and in quantity, otherwise the treatment effect will be greatly reduced, and it will also affect the subsequent treatment. Also, because Helicobacter pylori is easily transmitted between families, eradication therapy is often done with the whole family.
In addition, there are many factors that can increase the risk of gastric cancer, Helicobacter pylori is only one of the most important and can be controlled, but this does not mean that infection with Helicobacter pylori will definitely get stomach cancer, so there is no need to talk about bacterial discoloration, usually do a good job of prevention.
So how can it be prevented?
Helicobacter pylori can be transmitted from person to person through the digestive tract, common oral transmission and fecal-oral transmission, we can usually eat using chopsticks or divided meals, boiled tableware with water to disinfect, avoid going to restaurants with poor sanitary conditions, which help prevent infection with Helicobacter pylori. In addition, families with babies should also pay special attention not to kiss the baby's mouth, and do not use their mouths to chew up food and spit it on the baby.
In addition, for adults, we can choose a carbon-14 breath test to detect whether we are infected with Helicobacter pylori during the physical examination in order to respond in time.
03
These methods are not reliable for sterilization
Because the harm of Helicobacter pylori is not small, it is easy to make the masses panic, and some rumors about sterilization have a breeding ground.
For example, some toothpaste products are claimed to contain lactoferrin, which can kill Helicobacter pylori. But the problem is that the bactericidal effect of lactoferrin is far inferior to that of antibiotics, and even if toothpaste can kill some of the Helicobacter pylori in the mouth, can they enter the stomach and kill the bacteria there according to the ordinary way of brushing?
Since the sterilization effect is not good, we usually do not swallow toothpaste raw, then the role of toothpaste is very limited. So those toothpastes that claim to kill Helicobacter pylori may be slightly helpful for prevention, but they certainly do not have a therapeutic effect.
In addition, there are rumors that eating more garlic can kill Helicobacter pylori. But the problem is that the real can play a role in sterilization is allicin, allicin is easy to decompose in case of heat, raw garlic in the content of allicin is very low, in order to achieve the amount of effective killing of Helicobacter pylori, I am afraid I have to eat a surprising amount of raw garlic, which brings stimulation to the human body, and the impact on the breath, it is really uncomfortable to think about ah...
Therefore, what we should do is to correctly prevent Helicobacter pylori, and if you are unfortunate to be infected, you should go to a doctor for formal treatment, and do not hope for these unreliable methods.
Finally, infection with Helicobacter pylori does increase the risk of stomach cancer, but it does not mean that infection will necessarily lead to stomach cancer. Helicobacter pylori can be eradicated and prevented, pay attention to hygiene, and treat it rationally.
Author | Ding Song
Audit | Tang Qin, Director of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association, is a researcher
Editor-in-charge | Ding Song
This article is produced by "Scientific Debunking" (ID: Science_Facts), please indicate the source when reprinting.
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